Purchasing Managers

What Purchasing Managers Do

Plan, direct, or coordinate the activities of buyers, purchasing officers, and related workers involved in purchasing materials, products, and services. Includes wholesale or retail trade merchandising managers and procurement managers.

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience

5 years or more

On-the-job training

None

Self-employed

0.8%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

• Administration and Managementimportance 4.3/5
• Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 4.0/5
• English Languageimportance 3.9/5
• Law and Governmentimportance 3.8/5
• Economics and Accountingimportance 3.7/5
• Computers and Electronicsimportance 3.5/5
• Mathematicsimportance 3.5/5
• Administrativeimportance 3.4/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

• E-Mail5.0/5
• Telephone Conversations5.0/5
• Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.6/5
• Contact With Others4.6/5
• Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.5/5
• Spend Time Sitting4.5/5

Related Careers

• Procurement Clerks
• Logisticians
• Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers
• Sales Managers
• Marketing Managers
• Management Analysts
• General and Operations Managers
• Industrial Production Managers

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

• Medical and Health Services Managers98% skill match
• Curators97% skill match
• Sales Managers97% skill match
• Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary97% skill match
• First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers97% skill match
• Directors, Religious Activities and Education97% skill match
• Marketing Managers96% skill match
• Administrative Services Managers96% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

• Management of Personnel Resourcesimportance 4.0/5
• Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.9/5
• Negotiationimportance 3.9/5
• Time Managementimportance 3.9/5
• Coordinationimportance 3.8/5
• Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.8/5
• Persuasionimportance 3.6/5
• Service Orientationimportance 3.5/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

• Dependability
• Attention to Detail
• Integrity
• Leadership Orientation
• Self-Confidence
• Cautiousness
• Achievement Orientation

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

• EnterprisingHigh
• ConventionalHigh
• SocialLow
• RealisticLow
• InvestigativeLow
• ArtisticLow

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where purchasing managers make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

1. 1Huntsville, AL3.60× national avg
2. 2Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR2.74× national avg
3. 3Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY2.61× national avg
4. 4Trenton-Princeton, NJ2.53× national avg
5. 5Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV2.46× national avg

Possible Career Moves

A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.

• Marketing ManagersLateral Move
• Sales ManagersLateral Move
• Financial ManagersLateral Move
• Medical and Health Services ManagersLateral Move

See the full career path from Purchasing Managers →

Related Education Programs

Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.